Grand Opening Ceremony was held in conjunction with APRACA General Assembly and Regional Forum

In conjunction with the 18th General Assembly, 61st Executive Committee and Regional Forum of APRACA, Grand Opening Ceremony was held on May 30, 2012 at Sofitel Angkor Phokeethra Hotel in Siem Reap, Cambodia by the host of National Bank of Cambodia.

A total of 196 participants including 95 local participants attended the Ceremony. In the Welcoming Address by Mr. Ilyos Amanov, APRACA Chairman and Deputy Chairman of the Board, Agro-Bank Uzbekistan, he celebrated the 35th Anniversary of APRACA and emphasized the importance of the support and collaboration of member institutions for the consistent development of APRACA.

Dr. Ganesh Thapa, Regional Economist of International Fund for Agricultural Development, with emphasizing the strong partnership between APRACA and IFAD, stated that the topic of the Regional Forum is timely and important for several reasons including the increasing attention to the agricultural finance after experiencing the food price crisis in recent years.

Lastly, H.E. Mr. Chea Chanto, Governor, National Bank of Cambodia, in his Opening Address, after welcoming the participants from APRACA member institutions, spoke on the development of Microfinance as the vehicle of changes in the lives of millions of Cambodian rural communities.

The whole events included the Regional Forum on May 30, Executive Committee meeting and General Assembly on May 31, and a field trip to an agricultural project and Angkor Wat Temples on June 1.

APRACA held its 18th General Assembly and 61st Executive Committee

APRACA held its 18th General Assembly on the afternoon of May 31 in Siem Reap, Cambodia with the participation of 70 delegates from 28 member institutions.

The General Assembly adopted APRACA Biennium Work Plan and Budget for 2013-2014 and elected National Bank of Cambodia and Bangladesh Bank as Chairman and Vice-Chairman of APRACA respectively for the next two years. In addition, 13 member institutions including Agricultural Development Bank of China were elected as Executive Committee Members. Besides, 12 other Agenda items were accepted or approved at the Assembly.

The 61st Executive Committee meeting was held on May 31 prior to the General Assembly, where the Agenda items to be laid before the General Assembly were reviewed and resolved.

APRACA Regional Forum on Strengthen the Resilience of Smallholder Farmers through Rural Finance Innovations was conducted.

Regional Forum on Strengthen the Resilience of Smallholder Farmers through Rural Finance Innovations, with the attendance of 171 participants, started with the keynote speech by Ms. Nancy Barry, President, Enterprise Solutions to Poverty of the United States. In her speech entitled “Beyond Rural Finance: Agri-solutions and Agri-finance in Asia”, she addressed agri-finance targeting progressive small farmers consolidated with value chain.

Three sessions followed the keynote speech; Session for Strengthening the Resilience of Smallholder Farmers through Rural Finance Innovations, Session for Strengthening the Resilience of Smallholder Farmers through Linking Rural People to Green Financings, and Session for Strengthening the Resilience of Smallholder Farmers through Appropriate Risk Management Strategies.

Each session contained four speakers; one for regional view and three for country cases regarding the topic. The sessions were chaired by Dr. Prakash Bakshi, Chairman of National Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development of India, Ms. Jovita Corpuz, Executive Director, Agricultural Credit Policy Council of the Philippines, and Dr. K.K. Ravindran, Managing Director, National Cooperative Agriculture and Rural development Banks’ Federation of India, respectively.

The Forum was wrapped up by Dr. Enrique Navarro, Senior Advisor, CARD MRI of the Philippines and closed with a speech by H.E. Mr. Pal Buy Bonnang, Assistant Governor of National Bank of Cambodia and then APRACA Vice-Chairman, now APRACA Chairman.